Former England spinner Graeme Swann has revealed the reason behind England choosing Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir as the third and fourth spinner in the IND vs ENG Test series. Swann, who is currently touring India with the England Lions in an effort to hone England spinners’ skills, talked about what prompted the English selectors to go for Hartley and Bashir.
Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed’s place in England’s tour of India was more or less certain. However, there were places for two other spinners. Swann revealed that Bashir and Hartley were not chosen looking at first class average, but based on a number of attributes. Before the India series, Hartley had only claimed 40 first-class wickets in 32 innings at an average of 36.6, while Bashir had only participated in six matches at an average of 67.
“We were looking for specific attributes – people who can bowl straight, people who can bowl on turning pitches, people who can generate bounce,” Swann explained in an exclusive interview with Cricket.com.
“County Cricket is very, very different to Test cricket in India. And it’s not like we’ve had spinners who were knocking the door down in County cricket.
“It’s not always the people who average well. Averages hide all sorts of things. We didn’t pay too much attention to averages; we were (and still are) after match-winners.”
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